What's In a Name?
by prodigaldaughter13
Summary: Charlie is getting Cas a fake ID, and she needs him to pick a last name.


"Well, I can get him an ID, but what's he even gonna go by? Do you have a last name, Cas?" Charlie asked, looking down the table to Cas.

Dean had found Cas on a roadside about fifteen miles away from the bunker a week earlier. Sam still wasn't doing great, and Kevin was in no state to be watching someone, so in the evenings when Dean searched for Cas, he had Charlie come over to help out. Now that Cas was home, Charlie had decided she liked hanging out at the bunker, so she kept showing up.

She and Cas had become good friends; she made him sit down one evening and watch the new Star Trek movie, and he liked it so much they left the boys at home the next night and went to see the sequel. Charlie had taken it on herself to take care of the technical side of Cas's becoming human, getting him acquainted with technology, familiar with pop culture, and now, apparently, an ID.

"Novak could work," Sam suggested. It was one of his good days, the ones where he seemed back to normal. They were becoming more frequent, and that helped set Cas's mind at ease. But the name made him frown in distaste.

"Jimmy and I shared only one thing, and we have not shared that in a long time," Cas finally said. Jimmy had left his vessel long ago, moving on to his personal heaven. Cas sincerely prayed he was happy there.

Dean nodded in agreement. Castiel wasn't sure why, but since the angels fell, they had been closer than they had been since right after Purgatory. He'd kindly donated some of his own clothing until he and Cas could go shopping to "make sure he was dressed like a real hunter". Dean had taught Cas how to use his newly-mortal body in a fight, tussling with him in the bunker's gym most afternoons. When they weren't training, Dean was showing Cas how to cook, or playing music for him and sharing little tidbits of information about this song and that artist and this band, or teaching Cas how to drive, despite the inherent danger to his Baby.

And when the nightmares came to Castiel late in the night, he'd open his eyes and Dean would be there, somehow knowing that Cas would need him. Dean would hold him while he tried to hide his tears, and would hum quietly until Castiel fell back asleep.

"Well what name do you want?" Sam asked, snapping Castiel back to the present with a knowing look.

Cas fiddled with the hem of his t-shirt, a habit he'd picked up recently, before he answered. What name did he want to be known by? Dean and Sam took such pride in their name, their family... "Castiel Winchester."

Dean was the only one who looked surprised, and Cas knew he'd have to explain his reasoning to him later.

After dinner, they went their separate ways; Sam went to bed, Kevin to the library, and Charlie headed home, leaving Castiel and Dean to clear the table and do the dishes. Cas started stacking plates, grateful that he could still be useful.

"We're gonna have to ink you," Dean said, almost to himself. Cas glanced up, meeting Dean's eyes across the table with a question poised on his lips. "You're family, we don't want you getting possessed," Dean explained.

Cas shifted from foot to foot. "I can always choose another name, if this makes you uncomfortable," he began, but Dean cut him off, coming around the table and slipping his hands over Cas's waist. Cas almost jumped, Dean never initiated contact, outside of the two hugs he'd received and the nightmares.

"Cas," Dean said seriously, his face very close to Cas's. "I told you, we're family. That means you get the name, if you want it."

Cas just nodded, unable to say how important this was to him. He'd lost the closest thing to a family he'd ever known, and only now did he realize he'd had another family waiting for him here on Earth. He already viewed Sam and Kevin as brothers, and Charlie was well on her way to becoming a sister. But Dean... Dean was family in a very different way.

His thoughts must have shown in his eyes, because Dean leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to Cas's lips."Welcome to the family," he whispered. Castiel laughed as something occurred to him. "What?"

"I'm just hoping Sam doesn't give me the same welcome."


End file.
